No recession for car checking company

The flooded second-hand car market remains as busy as ever, a fact which brings smiles to faces at Motorcheck.ie. The car history check website has shrugged off the downturn and business is booming. JOE.ie caught up with Motorcheck.ie managing director Shane Teskey for a chat about the profound success of this homegrown business.

By William Nestor

Motorcheck.ie is a clever site. Gone are the days when every man could lift a bonnet, tussle with a few spark plugs or even be 100% sure of where and how to check the engine oil. Tyre-kickers and finger-runners can stop embarrassing themselves – all they have to do is let motorcheck do the work.

Shane Teskey, managing director of Motorcheck.ie, told JOE about setting up the business three years ago.

“We thought we might have an overly female audience but actually it’s fifty-fifty, there’s a complete mix. The reality is that motorcheck is looking at the documented history of a car as opposed to its current mechanical condition. They are very different things,” says Shane.

If you haven’t already heard about Motorcheck.ie, here’s how it works. For €35 the website provides the potential buyer with a full, official history of the car by simply typing in the registration number and, of course, paying via credit card.

In return, you will receive an in-depth report on the car which will include answers to questions like – has the car been written off, has it been clocked, does it have any outstanding finance or has it been reported stolen?

“I think it’s a useful start for somebody,” adds Shane. “Rather than wasting a couple of hours on a Saturday going to see a car and potentially missing out on another one that you could have bought because you didn’t allocate your time to vetting it. A motorcheck will sort the good from the bad instantly.”

Motorcheck is a useful start. But what about all these cowboys who have been flogging dodgy motors for years and know exactly how to work the system? Does it cut them out of the loop? Well, it can do, although at an added cost.

For just under €200 Motorcheck.ie will have their business partners, Advanced Pitstop, send a professional mechanic out to fully inspect the car you’re looking at.

“We offer a pre-purchase technical inspection,” says Shane. “We partnered with Advanced Pitstop and they have 123 things in a check that they go through. It costs €199 and that includes the history check. The guy spends about an hour on the car, takes it for a test drive and makes a recommendation.

Shane continues, “We’ve tried to pitch it where it’s just affordable. If you’re spending €1,000 on a car then there’s not much point. However, this pre-purchase inspection can save you a lot of money in the long run.”

Motorcheck.ie is on the upward curve, although figures in new car sales are on a gradual increase. There still remains a thriving business in the car history checking industry and motorcheck’s MD feels Irish buyers need to be more aware of the pitfalls they face.

“Our sales are up 100% year-on-year,” Shane points out. “The biggest challenge for us is not so much getting data or building more information into our reports. It’s communicating that awareness to people that they should check their car.

“One factor, in the UK 30% of transactions involving private sales are subject to a car history. In Ireland it’s way down at 5%. If you got a dodgy car in the UK that you want to sell then you have a better chance of shifting it in Ireland where people don’t check them. So we’re trying to get across that you really should be checking the UK import.”